What Makes Your Pet Vulnerable to Fleas and Ticks?
Fleas and ticks are blood-sucking parasites that can take your peace away. They are basically attracted to main things: carbon dioxide, heat, and vibration. Therefore, they can make any warm-blooded animal a potential host to hide and reproduce. So, if you have pets in your home, the sight of a flea or tick can give you chill to the bone marrow as they will take no time to attach themselves to your pet for a blood meal.
Although fleas and ticks are found in abundance across the globe, invasion of any single type can invite infestation along with a lot of trouble for you and your pet.
So, what puts your pets at a greater risk for encountering these parasites?
As a pet owner, if you are wondering what makes your pet vulnerable to ticks and fleas, you are at the right place. Keep scrolling to explore the risk factors that encourage ticks and fleas to find a way of infesting your furry friend and into your home!
Factors that Expose your Pets to Fleas and Ticks
As a pet parent, your concern to protect your four-legged companion from these blood-sucking parasites is understandable. Therefore, we have compiled a list of the top 5 reasons so that you can act fast and win the battle against fleas.
Let’s dive in.
Location
Fleas and ticks are found throughout the U.S. They have different species, and their behaviors and their threat level can vary from region to region and species to species. The population of ticks and fleas may be higher in some regions. Moreover, fleas and ticks thrive in warm environments. So, if you live in warm and humid places, your pet is at higher risk for infestation.
Season
It is time we unfold the truth. Fleas and ticks do prefer a warm environment. But that does not mean that you will see them only in summer or spring. In actuality, they can attack your home and pets all-year-round, even during the winter. Yes! That is right. During the cold weather, they survive by living on wild animals, domestic animals, and humans. If your house is warmer in the winter season, they will sneak in to hide in sheds, bedding, barns, or under decks.
Visitors
Uninvited wildlife visitors such as raccoons, rats, opossums also are carriers of fleas and ticks. If they hang around your neighborhood or in your yard, your home, yard, or pet can be infested with ticks and fleas. Moreover, if your yard has a source of food, scraps, or water, it will entice wildlife. Apart from uninvited visitors, some known visitors like infested pets of your friends or relatives that visit your home may involuntarily expose your pets to flea or ticks.
Pets Fur
Since ticks and fleas prefer warmer climates, they will seek warmth in your pet’s fur, settling close to the skin. Some pets with longer coats tend to provide a perfect cover for ticks and fleas to make themselves at home, crawl around and hide underneath the fur. Some pets offer enough dark spaces to ticks as fleas as light doesn’t reach in these areas. For instance, the areas under the ears, legs, neck, and tail.
No Flea and Tick Control
From the moment you welcome your new four-legged walking sunshine in your home, keeping them protected against tick and flea infestation is of utmost importance. This can be achieved through flea and tick control prevention all-year-round. If your pet is not on any type of tick and flea preventative, or if you do not provide them year-round regular dosage, you may be unwittingly increasing the risk of tick and flea infestation on your pet.
Wrapping Up
Flea and tick infestation in pets is alarming. It can cause skin irritation, infection, hair loss, and lethargy. In case of severe infestations, it can lead to blood loss and death. Try to make the setting around our pets less attractive to these critters to lower the chances of tick and flea infestation in your pets.
That said, these blood-sucking parasites are too canny as they can invade your home and infect your pets, even with preventive measures. So, the best way to protect your pet from fleas and ticks is to let the professional pest control experts deal with them and keep your home and pets free from ticks and fleas.
